A few blocks inland from the ferry terminal, the Pioneer Square area, Seattle's oldest district, was nearly destroyed in the 1960s, but has since been renovated, with bookshops and galleries adding a veneer of sophistication to the old red-brick, wrought iron and shady trees. Things get more raucous at night, when rock music booms out from assorted taverns and panhandlers become more aggressive.

By far the most interesting way to find out about the city's seamy past is on a 90-minute Underground Tour from Doc Maynard's tavern, 610 First Ave ($9, kids $5; tel 206/682-4646, ). After a disastrous fire in 1889, this area was rebuilt with the street level raised by one story, so what used to be the ground-level floors of its brick buildings are now underground, linked by subterranean passageways. A couple of blocks north from Doc Maynard's , at 117 S Main St, the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park (daily 9am-5pm; free; ) is not a park, but a small museum celebrating the days when, thanks to a formidable campaign to promote Seattle as the gateway to Alaskan gold, prospectors streamed in and traders (and con artists) made their fortunes. The dog population fared less well as many a hapless mutt was harnessed to a sledge so that gold-seekers could practice "mushing" up and down Seattle's streets before facing Alaskan snow (see Jack London's novel The Call of the Wild ). Just as interesting, the nearby cobblestoned square of Occidental Park , between Main and Washington streets at Occidental, holds four totem poles carved with mythical creatures from Northwest Native American legends. Two blocks northeast, on the edge of Pioneer Square, the 1914 white-terracotta Smith Tower was the city's first skyscraper, as well as its longtime visual icon - until the Space Needle appeared in the 1960s to become the city's main postcard symbol.

A few blocks south of Pioneer Square, football fans can check out a Seahawks game at Washington State Public Stadium (tel 1-888/635-4295, ), while baseball enthusiasts can visit Safeco Field , further south at First Avenue and S Atlantic Street, to take in a Seattle Mariners game (tel 206/622-HITS, ).

Pioneer Square and around

• Pioneer Square and around

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